A day doesn’t go by that I don’t see a hiring manager or HR specialist on LinkedIn trying to advertise an executive role by posting a link to their career’s page with – ‘We’re Hiring!’ as the caption.

Then I go to update our Instagram, Twitter or Facebook page and I see the same or similar post trying to attract anyone to apply for their positions hoping the right person will click on the link, apply and blow them away.

Of course, it all depends on what type of role you are recruiting for and in what industry. In some cases – for junior positions, advertising on social media is fantastic. Social media can attract hundreds of candidates for junior positions making it easier to find your ‘ideal’ candidate who is perfect for the role. In the world of executive search this cookie cutter approach is unlikely to give you the same results.

By advertising on social media, you are not working to find the best talent but are wishing and hoping for the best talent to come to you. As business leaders you will appreciate that wishing and hoping will not bring you great results – results come from active, hard work.

Social media is a great platform for almost anything, but when it comes to trying to attract talented people to specialist roles, hiring teams need to take a step back and analyse whether advertising their roles on social media is benefitting their hiring process or damaging yours and your company’s reputation. Does advertising jobs on social media mean you are admitting to not being able to attract the right talent to your business?

How do you attract talent in the right way?

Waiting for the right people to come to you will not get you very far – meaning you will have to pick the best person from, what could be, a bad bunch. By actively searching for the right talent, including those who are passive candidates, means you are more likely to find the right fit for the role.

I’ve seen it myself – executive search firms advertising roles that have a £500,000 salary on twitter – imagine how many people are trying their luck and applying for the role.

If you’re serious about finding the right talent for the role without advertising to the masses, you need to be strategic about how you are going to find the right person – and not rely on the right people falling into your lap.

Find the best methods for sourcing candidates for you by downloading our sourcing candidate’s recruitment guide, but make sure you work with the right firm who will target the right people for the role.